Fool for Lear

Of all of Shakespeare’s plays, King Lear has a special attraction for me. Besides the fact that it is one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s plays, it is the only Shakespeare play that I have actually been in. I was an attendant to the king of France in a college production my freshman year. It’s also one of the greatest live performances that I have seen--Kenneth Branagh’s 1990 production. I have also enjoyed multiple variations of the same story, from Kurisawa’s Ran to Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, not to mention a couple film versions and four or five other stage productions. So when I saw that Christopher Moore had written the book Fool, I had to admit that I was a fool for Lear and read it.

I don’t know who was the first to come up with this idea of what I call derivative fiction, where an author retells a story from a different character’s viewpoint. Perhaps it was Mark Twain’s “Extracts from Adam's Diary” or “Eve's Diary.” Sixty years later Tom Stoppard retold Shakespeare's Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters in his play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Although I am sure there are several other examples, the most recent (and quite successful) one is Gregory Maguire, he of Wicked fame (and fortune). So now Christopher Moore seeks to retell the story of King Lear from the perspective of his fool.

Most commentators on Shakespeare’s play give the fool a lot of credit for being quite clever. Moore goes well beyond that by making the fool, who is given the name Pocket, the instigator behind much of what is going on in the story. Or at least he thinks he is behind everything. What is certain is that Moore’s fool is an extremely clever and bawdy fool. This is not a story for Victorians; it’s a story for Elizabethans. If you don’t like to hear about bonking, bollocks and shagging, then this is not the book for you. Die-hard Shakespeare fans will be quick to point out that old Will was rather bawdy in his own way as well, which I certainly don’t deny. Perhaps we are so used to it in the plays that we simply don’t notice it any more.

Regardless, the author seems to believe with Emerson that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, and he does not let such things as the original plot stand in the way of a fun story. Again, the die-hards will point out that this is not the first time that King Lear has been rewritten. For example, a key element in this story, the three witches in Birnam Woods, is extracted from the Scottish play, not King Lear. There are also many bawdy elements which are not from the original play.

Moore’s Lear story is much more manic, and at times more desperate, than the Bard’s. A lot of the original dialogue is there as well, which just sort of adds to the fun of the whole story. And a lot of bawdiness is added, too.

Shakespeare lovers should love this story. And while you don’t have to be a Shakespeare fan to enjoy the story, I don’t think you would find it quite as funny if you don’t have a basic understanding of the story. So my recommendation is to go see the play or get a film version of the play and watch it first to understand the story. Then read the book. Did I mention that it was bawdy?

To Mecca

If there were such a thing as a Mecca for Shakespeare fans, it would have to be Stratford-upon-Avon in England. (Stratford in Ontario, Canada, is a mini mecca, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London is too new to be a Mecca.) All serious fans of the Bard should visit his hometown at least once in their lives. We have now been there twice.

Before I get into the fun that is a trip to Stratford, I should take a moment to address those of you who get really excited about the idea that the man from Stratford, William Shakespeare, or Shaksper, or Shakespeer, could not possibly have written the 37 or so plays normally ascribed to him. You're thinking why should anyone bother to go to Stratford when it must have been someone else who really wrote them--Ben Jonson perhaps, or Edward de Vere, or Christopher Marlowe or a host of other possibilities. I am not completely clueless about the arguments as I've read at least one book on the subject (Who Wrote Shakespeare? by John Mitchell). Yet I've been convinced only that the case against the man known as Shakespeare is much stronger than the case in favor of any other person or persons. So we here at Bard Watching are comfortable traditionalists. We believe that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare and that’s that. Let’s be quiet--the play’s about to start!

According to the tradition, William Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon. His father was a glover and a minor politico who seemed to fall in and out of favor with his constituency. Young William was brought up in this town and then left it to find his fortune in London. He married a girl from Stratford, Anne Hathaway, and apparently retired back there. He died in 1616 and is buried in a church in the town.

Our first trip to Stratford was in 1995. We were in Europe for a week. Debbie had been overseas before, but it was my first trip. Our trip took us to London, Paris and Rome. We spent three days in London with a tour group that allowed some freedom in scheduling. One day we decided to take the Oxford/Stratford/Warwick Castle tour. That was a lot to cover in a single day. The Stratford leg of that tour consisted of a photo op outside Anne Hathaway’s cottage (we didn’t go in), a visit to Shakespeare’s birthplace (we did go in), and a very quick drive past the place where he was buried (we didn't even stop). The tour guide pointed it out for us as we were motoring away. As serious Bardophiles, we were both disappointed with this part of the trip. We vowed then that we would return to do a proper trip to Stratford-upon-Avon someday.

We returned to England again in 1998 but didn’t make it to Stratford. We returned for a third time in 2002, yet again we didn’t go to Stratford. But the third time was the charm. This year (2011) we returned to England for our fourth visit, this time accompanied by our two sons (a.k.a. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), whom we are eagerly training to be Bard Watchers in their own right. This time we planned a major trip to England which included two days and three nights in Stratford. It helped immensely that the Royal Shakespeare Company had just opened their new permanent facility on the Avon River.

Our Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at Shakespeare's Birthplace

It was a beautiful day when we arrived. Our trip took place in the spring as we wanted to catch the opening at the Globe theater, so we took the boys out of school for a few days. Fortunately, we were able to schedule our trip so that we would be in Stratford right on Shakespeare's birthday, April 23. Unfortunately, it was also the week that apparently the entire British school system goes on holiday, spring break as it were; thus we were joined by hundreds of Britons at every tourist spot. We came in by train from London and settled in at the Holiday Inn just off the Avon River. Most things in Stratford are within walking distance, so we had no problem getting around. On our first full day there, we took Rosencrantz and Guildenstern by train to see nearby Warwick Castle. That evening we enjoyed the RSC's preformance of Macbeth from front row seats. (My wife, who planned this trip, was awake and online as soon as the RSC offered their tickets to the public.)

We met the Bard himself!

The next morning was the Bard's birthday, and we started the day at his birthplace. The last 15 years have been very kind to the building. As I recall, in 1995 it was a house. Now it has a museum next door, a bigger and better gift shop, and a beautiful garden in the back. William Shakespeare himself was wandering around as well, so we chatted with him and posed for pictures. We then kept running into him all over town. Apparently when you have been dead for 400 years, you learn how to get around quickly. There was also a small troupe of actors performing scenes for the crowd. They were taking requests, so I called out one of the scenes from Much Ado About Nothing with Beatrice and Benedick. They had quite a repertoire and had no trouble pulling it off. I could have stayed there all day playing Stump the Shakespearean Actors, but there were other things to see and do so I was compelled to move on.

Actors playing Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare's home

Shakespeare’s home itself is interesting. Entrance to the house is gained through the museum in which you see a few videos about Shakespeare and then a hallway that celebrates some of the great Shakespearean actors of history. The house is now filled with furniture from the period, and it has actor/guides in a few of the rooms who describe the place and what’s interesting about it. There is a museum atmosphere of sorts to the house itself, which is not surprising since it’s been a tourist attraction almost since the time of the restoration.

Shakespeare died in 1616 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church about a mile or two from where he was born. When his wife died a few years later she was buried next to him. Entrance to the church is free, but there is there is a charge for going into the chancel where the Shakespeare family graves are located. Shakespeare is supposedly buried 17 feet down below a plaque with a famous curse on anyone who tries to steal his bones. The famous monument of Shakespeare holding a quill is located about 10 feet up the wall just to the left of the grave. Of course we took several pictures and left Holy Trinity Church happy that we had rectified our mistake of 1995.

Bardwatcher Stan, a.k.a. Mr. Obituary, by Shakespeare's Grave

The rest of Stratford is a fascinating English town to visit. Of course it is heavily influenced by being the home of the Bard. There’s a Shakespeare this and a Shakespeare that although most of it is not really authentic. We stopped and toured Hall's Croft, the former home of Shakespeare's daughter Susannah and her husband Dr. John Hall. We also went through Nash's House, which is where Shakespeare's grandaughter Elizabeth had lived with her husband Thomas Nash. It is now a museum, and it is next door to Shakespeare's own final home, New Place. Unlike the other Shakespeare related homes in town, New Place is an archeological dig site. The museum has several artifacts found there on display, and we could go outside and watch the archeologists at work, each one hoping to discover the next relic from the Bard's life. As we walked from site to site, occasionally bumping into our friend Shakespeare, we enjoyed that quaint atmosphere of the whole town and stopped in several shops. There are several very old pubs (we’re talking hundreds of years old) which I found fascinating. We also enjoyed a cruise on the Avon River.


There’s not a great deal about the town that sheds more light on any of the plays. There is an Arden Forest nearby, and some of the names sound familiar although not exactly like what you hear for character names in later plays. (This, of course, is one of the arguments of the anti-Shakespeareans.) Regardless, it was a wonderful experience to have been in the Bard’s hometown (twice) and to see his grave (once). It’s a highly recommended experience for any true Bard watcher.

A Shakespeare Weekend (February 2011)

The first Shakespeare play I remember ever watching was As You Like It.  It was on TV when I was in high school, and for whatever reason I decided I would watch it.  I have no idea what production it was or who was in it.   The first Shakespeare play I remember actually watching live was Much Ado About Nothing.  It was a production put on by my (quite small) high school.  It probably wasn’t that great a production, but I remember enjoying it immensely.  My brother played the role of Balthazer the singer (“tax not so bad a voice to slander music more than once”). 

It seems fitting, some thirty years after that introduction to the Bard, that we kick off this blog with a Shakespeare weekend review that involves watching both As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing.

Let me give a quick word about who we are and why our blog matters.  My wife Debbie and I are Shakespeare groupies.  We have been our whole married lives.  As time goes on I hope to tell our story more, but suffice it to say that we have seen every one of Shakespeare plays performed live.  Most of them we have seen multiple times.  We have seen Hamlet done 16 times.  Our quest to see all of Shakespeare’s plays performed live is an interesting story that we will post as a separate page.  In the almost 20 years since we have been married, we have probably seen 200 Shakespeare performances.  At some point I will get an exact number, but I guess that’s pretty close.  That doesn’t make us scholars or even experts, but it does put us above most of the fans, actors, and actresses that we have met.

A typical Bard weekend for us involves locking onto a play.  In this case, we already had tickets to see As You Like It at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST).  We have been subscribers to the CST since 1993.  We have talked with Artistic Director Barbara Gaines on a couple of occasions, but that was when the theater performed at the Ruth Page Theater.

So we decide on a show and then look for something else to add.  Actually, we are on enough mailing lists for theaters that the opportunities come to us.  In this case it was the opportunity to see Much Ado About Nothing on Sunday at the Merle Reskin Blackstone Theater.  This was a production of the Depaul Theater School—which, by the way, is the best bargain in all of Chicago for theater fans. 

So on Saturday we took off to Navy Pier for AYLI.  This was our fifth or sixth time seeing the play and at least our third time at CST.  The problem facing CST is how to keep coming up with variety when its core curriculum, as it were, is 37 plays (give or take one or two depending on your theory of authorship).  This theater seems to do quite well because we keep coming back.  The CST experience is well worth the price.  Obviously the productions are almost always great.  AYLI was no exception.  Kate Fry, one of our favorites from multiple shows at CST and other theaters in the area (most notably the Court Theater), was delightful as Rosalind.  We hadn’t seen her for a few years, so it was good to see her again in a role.

Many scholars believe that the role of Rosalind is the greatest female role in Shakespeare.  She is in virtually every scene in the play.   She has the most lines of any female character in any of Shakespeare’s plays.  Regardless, Kate Fry was wonderful.   Chaon Cross, who we got to see in several productions in previous years at Court, was great as Celia.  Ross Lehman as Jacques was a bit more chipper than most who take on that role.  The story (as many of Shakespeare’s plays do) has a few holes in it, but overall it’s a good time.  My wife Debbie particularly liked the set for this production, which featured a large tree formed by the floorboards of the stage bending upwards—visual poetry!  “All the world’s a stage!” However, she thought the large clock that hung over the set throughout the entire play was an unnecessary and pretentious.

On Sunday afternoon, we and our sons headed to the Depaul Theater School’s  matinee performance of Much Ado About Nothing.  MAAN is certainly one of my favorite of Shakespeare’s comedies.  The merry war of words between Beatrice and Benedick, when done well, can be quite funny.  Further, this play has several of the conventions that practically define one of the Bard’s comedies:  overheard dialogue, intrigue, and of course, love.    Beatrice and Benedick are quite familiar with each other when they meet up.  “My dear lady disdain,” says Benedick of Beatrice.  They snipe at each other like a pair of former lovers still arguing over leaving the seat up.  In fact, I believe that Beatrice and Benedick are an ex-couple. It’s not often stressed in the productions I’ve seen, but at one point Beatrice notes that once Benedick had her heart but no longer.

The story of the play surrounds the love of one noble hero named Claudio for a beautiful maiden named Hero.  There are indications in the play that these two have met before as well.  Claudio walks onto the stage, sees Hero and immediately falls in love and just has to have her.  But, he’s not man enough to do his own wooing, so his boss Don Pedro has to do it for him.  Despite a few misunderstandings, he eventually “gets the girl” only to be fooled into thinking her unfaithful, and he dumps her at the altar.  Our young hero is rather mercurial in regards to our fair Hero.  Nevertheless, all is made right in the end, and it proves to be much ado about nothing.

We don’t have another Shakespeare weekend planned until Easter when this year we’ll be celebrating the Bard’s Birthday (April 23) in Stratford, England.  We’ll keep you informed!